Once Dreamt in a Dream
by Indoctrinated
Summary: One morning you'll discover that you don't care if you're dreaming, because you don't want to wake up anymore...and before you know it, this becomes the only life you've ever lived, and that other life is a lot like something you once dreamt in a dream.


A/N: My WIP is being a pain. The final chapter absolutely _refuses_ to go down smoothly. It's putting up a real fight. When I finally think it's finished it rears its ugly head and makes me fix it again. And again. And again. Remind me why I decided to write? Ah well, enough of my complaining. This one-shot is a result of insomnia and pure frustration with Transcendence. Hope you like it anyways. Sort of wrote it hoping it would spark some brilliant thought that I could use in Transcendence and then it kinda took on a life of its own. Maybe this'll keep you guys happy 'til I manage to wrangle Transcendence into submission; I'm considering the use of a tranquilizer gun, or maybe a lasso. :D

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"Here we are then, this is your new room aboard the TARDIS. Loo's that-a-way, kitchen's that-a-way, and usually, I'm any which way. S'really a bit like Russian roulette trying to find me in the TARDIS, but chances are I'll be in the console room."

The Doctor grinned at his new companion, a rather brilliant black woman he met in a chip shop when it was attacked by a battalion of Snoric riot troops who had been trying to contain a dangerous fugitive from their home planet of Snorcania that escaped en route to his execution by faking a rather foul case of indigestion then proceeding to steal a transport after he crawled through miles of pipeline filled with sewage and other such wastes. It was safe to say that they could have tracked him by scent alone.

After dealing with said Snorics, the Doctor left to return to the TARDIS, only to find that Martha had followed him. After a rather loud row about who the hell he was and why he was here, the Doctor told her who he was, _what_ he was, how he got here, and would she like to come on an adventure with him?

"Sure," she had grinned, "why the bloody hell not?"

And so now the Doctor found himself, a suitcase in each hand, standing outside Rose's old room, her belongings long since moved to a far more private sector of the TARDIS where the Doctor could go and remember her.

The woman, Martha Jones, whose friends call her Jonesy and her mother insists on calling 'Phyllis'. "Absolutely rotten name they saddled me with," she explained. "Phyllis Margarita Jones. I just tell everyone my name's Martha. They believe me, don't ask questions, and most importantly, they don't give me odd looks when they think I'm not watching."

She now grinned back at the Doctor.

He cleared his throat and added, "Well, I'll leave you here to unpack and decorate and all that jazz. If you want to explore then the TARDIS won't let you get lost, just shout out the room you want to be at and she'll rearrange the corridors accordingly. If you want me, I'll be around…somewhere." He flashed one last grin, plonked down the suitcases and swaggered back down the hall, long coat swishing behind him.

With a fortifying inhalation, Martha picked up her suitcases and stepped into the room. Almost instantly she jumped back in fright as a blonde woman erupted from the floor. She tripped over the doorstop and landed hard on her back. After a beat, the woman unfroze and began speaking.

"If you are watching this hologram, and are not the Doctor, then I can only assume that you are someone he has invited to come live their life with him on the TARDIS, and that I am gone, either by my will or his I can't be sure. Chances are that you are female, as the Doctor – him being a man after all – prefers to spend his time with that gender, though he has had a fair share of male companions. Hell, for all I know, you might be a little bit of both. God only knows what species you are; I won't even try to hazard a guess apart from the fact that he has a special fondness for humans."

Martha scrambled up from the ground and tentatively touched the woman. Her fingers went right through. Using her extensive knowledge of sci-fi movies and cutting edge technology, Martha could only assume that this was a hologram: a life-size moving image of a person with a recorded message. The woman continued to speak, and Martha listened more intently.

"There's only two things I can absolutely guarantee about the journey you'll share with the Doctor, one is that no matter how hard you try not to, no matter how much you assure that it won't happen, your heart will be broken. Traveling with the Doctor is like being shown a glimpse of heaven, and then being denied it forever. You will fall him, one way or another. You will love him; like a brother or sister, like a best friend, or maybe like someone you could live the rest of your life with. I fell for him in the hardest way possible. In my position, many people would say that it was a mistake. It wasn't. The Doctor was the greatest that ever happened to me, and I never want to forget it." The woman smiled feebly, both of her hands clasped tightly over her heart as if she were trying to keep it from breaking in two.

"A very wise woman once told me that there are some things worth getting your heart broken for. This is one of them. A life with the Doctor is inconceivable before you've lived it, and once it's over, it again becomes inconceivable to figure out how you're ever going to get along without him. But you will. It's sink or swim. I hope you swim, and I'll do my best to carry on when he's no longer with me. It's not an idea I like to think about very much, but I know one day it is coming, like a looming shadow over my head."

"Guard your heart well. Live, love, and lose by all means, just watch who you lose it to, who you come to love. The Doctor is easy to love, and hard to lose. Of all people I should know this lesson very well, 'cause I was one of many who lost my heart to his infectious smile and his warm hug. If you agreed to come with him then you've only experienced a taste of his magnetism. I came to love him, and I'm sure you will too, though the depth is up to you."

"With the Doctor, you'll see things that defy the impossible, things you've only seen in the shadows of your dreams. For a while, you'll think you're in some strange sort of cosmic dream, that none of this is real. But one morning you'll wake up and discover that you really don't give a damn if you're dreaming, because you don't want to wake up anymore. You like this new world he's shown you. It's still dark, there's still evil, but there's also good and hope, more than you could ever imagine. Life is more real than it's ever been before, time passes you by, and before you know it, this becomes the only life you've ever lived, and that other life is a lot like something you once dreamt about."

The woman in the hologram grinned, her smile bright and captivating. "I can't guarantee it will be quiet, it will be safe, and it will be calm. The only other thing I can absolutely guarantee is that it will be is a trip of a lifetime."

"Good luck, whoever you are, god speed, and god help the person who could live forever with this hyperactive, orally-fixated, easily-distracted, drop-dead sexy, mussed hair in 'I-just-got-out-of-bed' kind of way, horribly dressed, undeniably lovable, definitely telepathic (even though he'd never tell you), hopelessly romantic in the end, compassionate, vengeful, absolutely amazing Time Lord who I came to love, and who might have been – in some other life time - the one man I might have spent the rest of my life with. But in the end, all one can do is hope and dream of what might have been."

"If I know the Doctor, then he should be standing right round the corridor, listening to every word. If I'm right, then there's only one thing left for me to say. I love you, Doctor, but make sure you love this one as much as I know you loved me."

"Goodbye." She gave one sad smile, and faded away.

Martha followed the woman's assumption and turned back down the corridor, and sure enough, there was the Doctor. He was leaning heavily against one of the support columns, as if his feet couldn't support the massive weight he carried on his shoulders.

She asked quietly, "What was her name, this woman that loved you, and you loved her back?"

He smiled, what Martha realized, the first genuine smile she had ever seen come from him. It came directly from his heart. "Her name was Rose, and you are right. I did love her, very much. Though I don't know what she meant by horribly dressed." He gestured to his slightly rumpled suit. Both of them laughed.

"This…trip of a lifetime, whatever it is, I'm ready for it. I'll more than likely get my heart broken over it, but from what Rose said, it sounds more than worth it. What'd you say, Doctor, shall we begin?"

He grinned wildly, took her by the hand, led her to the console and tapped in the first set of coordinates to the first planet they'd ever visit together. A new treasure trove of memories for his life. He lowered the final lever, and finally replied, "We shall."

Fin. 


End file.
